by John McPhee
First published 2023
John McPhee opens his desk drawer and examines the projects that never made it to print. After seven decades of writing about mountains, canoes, aircraft, armies, and countless other subjects, he turns his attention to the unfinished business of his career. McPhee recalls his frosty meeting with Thornton Wilder and his dinners with Henry Luce. He describes western Spain that he meant to explore, the science writing principles he developed, and fireworks viewed from Malcolm Forbes's yacht. The Leaning Tower of Pisa appears alongside California's delta islands. McPhee recounts teaching during a pandemic and convincing The New Yorker to publish his entire book about oranges. These fragments form what he calls a "reminiscent montage" from his writing life. The unwritten stories reveal as much about his craft as his published works. McPhee finds this project perfect for his later years, with enough material planned for additional volumes.
Genres: biography, autobiography, biography-memoir, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: Western Spain, California, Leaning Tower of Pisa
Period: Pandemic
192 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux